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Introduction

The Reasons behind This Book

The most effective way to find out how to improve products, is to watch people using them.

It sounds pretty simple -- and it actually is! At least this is what we believe after more than ten years of practical experience with "usability" (sometimes also called "serviceability" or "user-friendliness") and "user testing", which are two of the most common names for this method. How easy it can actually be to improve products and services with the help of user testing, is something we'll show you throughout this book.

The main reason for writing this book is that we believe that product teams should take user testing into their own hands. This doesn't mean that sometimes it does make sense to hire an external usability expert to conduct an independent analysis, but ideally, product managers, designers, and developers should conduct their own user testing. How to do this is also something we'll reveal in the following pages.

We also believe that user testing is a fixed and regular part of any development process -- at least when developing simple, clear and understandable products.

And since we've done thousands of user tests ourselves, we thought it was time to put what we've learned into a book.

Who this Book Is For

As we've already described in the introduction to this, our first book, "User Testing: How Does It Actually Work?", we first need to be clear about who we actually wrote this book for and how to benefit from it.

  • Product Managers: To allow them to learn how to conduct user tests themselves and integrate them into their teamwork as a fixed part of the product's development.

  • Designers: To help them to understand how to apply user testing early in the design phases so as to continually improve their own solutions.

  • Developers: To make sure that their solutions really work and are understood by their users.

  • Start-Ups: To test their own products as early, fast and regularly as they should actually do.

  • Agencies and Self-Employed Individuals: To allow them to see how they can improve products and services for their customers and clients with the help of user testing.

  • Corporations: To know enough about user testing to make a good decision when choosing a usability expert.

  • Ourselves and Our Employees: To have a practical reference book so as not to forget what actually matters in user testing.

Generally speaking, this book is for anyone who wishes to develop simple, clear and understandable products and services. Whether digital or analog, an app or a food processor, an online shop or a physical store -- the basic principles of user testing that we present in this book are always the same and can be applied virtually anywhere and to anything.

What You'll Learn in This Book

This book is about how you can use user testing to continually improve digital products and services yourself. The emphasis is on continually, improve and yourself.

  • Continually: We've learned that user testing delivers the best results when testing is carried out regularly. That's why we'll show you how to start as early as possible and make sure that you don't "forget" user testing throughout the entire product development process.

  • Improve: The type of user testing we describe in this book has a single goal: to improve your products and services.

  • Yourself: As useful as it is to hire an outside expert to review your own products and services by carrying out user tests, it's much more effective to conduct these user tests yourself. That's why we'll show you how to set up and conduct your own user tests as easily as possible and how to benefit from them.

What You Won't Learn in This Book

This book is not about how you can measure and compare the usability of products and services with the help of user testing.

The reason for this is that you need a statistically significant number of test participants to do these comparisons (at least if you want to trust your test results). But you would also have to create a precise test protocol and follow it for every test participant exactly to the word. And of course, you shouldn't change (= improve) the solution to be tested during or between tests, which is the exact opposite of the kind of user testing that we are proposing in this book.

As already mentioned, our sole concern is to improve products and services with the help of user testing. This is also the reason for not saying a single word about how to create the so-called "usability reports" for your customers and clients.

The Parts of This Book

This book is divided into three major parts:

In Part 1 we describe why user testing actually is important. We explain the connection between user testing and fitness exercises and show you that there's absolutely no need for you to be an expert to run your own user tests -- you only have to overcome your subconscious fear of failure.

In Part 2 we provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to conduct user testing by yourself. We'll show you what to look for when selecting test participants and also where to find suitable testers. You'll also learn how to assess your tests quickly and easily and share the results with your team to continually improve your product.

In Part 3 we offer you a collection of concrete test scenarios to use as a template for your own user tests. The scenarios are divided into categories, so you can look them up any time you like, whether you wish to test an online shop or the marketing website of your start-up and are looking for suitable test scenarios for this purpose.